June 14, 2026: Pollen Aplenty

Before we look at pollen, a disclaimer is in order:  When we get to the loon update, this post will get a little racy, so be warned. 

If you're in the Lakes Region, you know that the white pine trees released their copious load of pollen this week. 

Lakes were yellow, cars were yellow, even indoor surfaces near open windows were coated with a thin layer of yellow dust.  Pine marks the end of tree pollen season and the good news is that the large yellow particles, which are so visible, are too large for your immune system to interpret as a virus, so they don't trigger your immune system.  But they sure do make a gunky mess in the lake.

I mentioned on May 24th that Jupiter and Venus were visible in the western sky shortly after sunset.  Since then they have been on a course for a close encounter, with their closest alignment occurring on June 9th. 

Jupiter and Venus shine in the evening sky over Lake Wicwas

Venus is the brighter of the two, about seven times brighter than Jupiter.  The hot weather this week - it hit 93.4 degrees on Friday - made for pleasant nighttime sky-gazing.  The frogs and toads loved it too.  On the night of the conjunction, the Gray Tree Frogs celebrated the event by serenading me with musical accompaniment as I enjoyed the celestial light show. 

In daylight hours it was the Green Frogs that were providing the background music.

If you turn the volume up you'll hear some mosquitoes buzzing in addition to the frogs and the blue jays.

Last week I noted a painted turtle nest that had been raided for the eggs.  This week it was a snapping turtle nest.  

The consumed eggs of the nest (the hole on the left) were spread out on the ground.

This nest was very near where I saw the snapping turtle I mentioned last week laying eggs beside Chemung Rd.  There are a lot more eggs in a snapping turtle nest than in a painted turtle nest.

And snapper turtle eggs are rounder, whiter, and a little harder - not as leathery - as painted turtle eggs.

We didn't get up to Sugar Hill this year to see the lupines, but I'm guessing there's a good showing based on how many we have blooming in our yard.  The bumblebees been out doing their part to make sure there will be another good crop next year too.

A bumblebee comes in to add more pollen to the bundle on its leg.

Now to the loons. The northern pair is still tending their eggs, though sitting on the nest in 90 degree heat must be excruciating.  We can only hope they're able to keep the eggs from overheating.  As for the southern pair, Deb Crowley saw them starting to build a nest in the same spot they successfully fledged a chick in 2022. 

Photos by Deb Crowley

They got right down to the business of making a family after they started nest construction.  Guy Sanderson caught the southern pair in the act of copulation (this is where things get R-rated).

Video by Guy Sanderson

It may not be very graceful, but it appears to be effective! 

A female will develop and lay her first egg three to five days after successful fertilization, and a second egg, if laid, will follow one or two days later.  By Friday the pair was on the nest so we assume there's at least one egg present.  It was a little later start than typical due to the heavy rain, but at this point we're in good shape for two potential nests.  We'll keep an eye on things and provide an update next week.

On the way out this week, I'll note it also seems to an especially favorable year for the Larger Blue Flag.

Keep an eye out for these beautiful native lilies as you paddle around any lake in New Hampshire.

June 20, 2021: Rocky Mountain Pelicans

On our final hike in steamboat springs last week we went up to find an abandoned uranium mine just east of steamboat. We weren't far up the trail when a flock of large birds came soaring up the west flank of the mountain from the Yampa valley.

A flock of large birds over the Yampa Valley, the Flattop Mountains are in the distance.

In the distance it was clear they were large with some white visible so my mind went to bald eagles, but I'd never seen eagles in a flock, let alone in formation. I lost sight of them as they dipped below the tree line but a few minutes later they circled up nearer to the ridge we were hiking and I got a better look - they were pelicans! 

American White Pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos)

I remember reading somewhere about pelicans in Colorado but didn't really believe it, and certainly never expected to see them. But there they were, undisputable pelicans; I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen them with my own eyes.  Turning to my favorite bird resource, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, I find that they migrate across much of America west of the Mississippi river on their way to breeding grounds primarily in Canada, but also in pockets of Colorado, Wyoming, and the Dakotas. So much for me thinking they are purely ocean birds - though the brown pelicans I see in South Carolina are strictly seacoast dwellers.

Back in new Hampshire we've had some perfect summer weather, simply ideal for a guided paddle around Lake Wicwas on Friday.  The Lakes Region Conservation Trust organized the paddle which was attended by an enthusiastic group of twelve kayakers and canoers who toured eight LRCT-protected easements as well as four protected by the town of Meredith.

A colorful group prepares to depart on a two-hour tour.

The paddle was organized and led by LRCT Land and Stewardship Director Dave Mallard and me.

New Hampshire is incredibly fortunate to have so many generous, forward-looking people who have seen the importance of protecting our water and land resources.  On the trip we saw loons, kingbirds, painted turtles, yellow warblers, tree swallows and even got a glimpse of the loon nest.  In the marshes we saw blue flags (wild iris) and rose pogonia blooming.  

Rose Pogonia (Pogonia ophioglossoides)

Blue Flag (Iris versicolor)

The iris are almost gone-by but the small and delicate rose pogonia will be in bloom for a while - look for both in dense, boggy wetlands.

We're still waiting for definitive confirmation of the female nesting loon as she's been quite protective of her leg bands.  I did confirm there are two eggs still in the nest, though it was a little concerning that the nest was unoccupied with only one parent nearby, nonchalantly preening near the nest.

Two eggs sit unattended.

There were no boats in the area and no indication of where the other loon was or why it left the nest.  Hopefully it just needed a quick dip to cool off.

There was another large flying creature that landed on the lake when we were away, but the quick eye of Debby Crowley caught the renegade as it came in for a landing.  

Landing on Wicwas.  Photo by Debby Crowley.

Debby reported that the loons did not appreciate the stranger on the lake, but they also apparently didn't run off to hide - maybe they were curious about this large, noisy intruder too.

 A loon checks out the unusual beast.  Photo by Debby Crowley.

While I'm sharing stories from outside the Lakes Region I want to share this fabulous picture a friend took of a red-tailed hawk sitting in the top of tree along the Marginal Way in Ogunquit Maine.

Red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis).  Photo by John Windyka.

  

Red-tailed hawks are very large birds, and with a wing span of almost five feet they are often mistaken as immature bald eagles.  Keep an eye on the sky for both of them which are present in the Lakes Region.  This is one of the best photos I've seen of a red-tailed, with the sun illuminating the tail from above and those steely eyes staring right down at the camera.  Thanks for sharing John, and thanks also to PC for sharpening up the photo!

Finally, happy Father's Day to my dad and all fathers - this is your day to enjoy and remember what joy you've brought to the world.  Here's one many-times over dad, who's hopefully about to become a new father once again:

The soon-to-be father enjoying some personal time on the lake before his life gets very busy.

Now this late breaking news:  Claranne B. just reported a moose swimming along the shore of Lake Wicwas!  It the stomped right up onto land and walked across Loon Point.  It's a rare treat to see a moose, and great to know they are roaming around the Lakes Region!

June 14, 2020: Great Crested Flycatcher

Ever since the spring birds started arriving I've been hearing a loud, sharp, rising bird call coming from somewhere high in the trees.  I couldn't find the artisan producing this distinct sound, nor could I figure out from the guide books who it was.  Eventually I was so frustrated by it that I went to the Merlin bird app (from Cornell Ornithology Lab) and worked my through all the bird calls, starting with the most likely birds in our area, and finally I found it.  There was no doubt when I heard the recording of the Great Crested Flycatcher that this was my bird. 

I never would have guessed it was in the flycatcher family since the other common flycatchers I know - the eastern phoebe and the eastern wood-peewee don't make such a sharp call.  The great-crested does have a song similar to the other flycatchers, and I have likely many times attributed its song to one of these other flycatchers.  The great crested flycatcher spends its days high in the trees searching out insects and worms, which is why it's not commonly seen.  This is from the identification information from the Ornithology Lab:

"When the male sings, it's to be heard, not to see or be seen. He picks a singing perch within the canopy, well away from branch ends. In contrast, hunting perches require an unobstructed view of potential prey and unobstructed flight paths to them, whether the prey are in the air or on leaves or twigs. Both sexes favor hunting from dead branches with a backdrop of foliage for cover."

Several days later, when I heard it calling close by in the morning I went looking once again, and this time I caught the elusive rascal - it was hunting from the top of a dead branch just as the book instructed him to.

Great Crested Flycatcher (Myiarchus crinitus)

It's a pretty bird, with a lemon-yellow belly and a small (not very great!) crest on its head.  Here are two interesting facts about the great crested:  One, they like to use shed snake skins in their nests; and two, although they are flycatchers they also eat fruit, consuming them whole and then regurgitating the pits.  (Most birds peck at fruit and eat just the flesh.)  These are common birds in our area; once you know their call you'll probably notice them frequently, even if you never see one.

Waiting for the next unsuspecting insect to fly by.

Two weeks ago I shared a picture of a ground nest, guessing it was the nest of a hermit thrush or a veery.  This week those three blue eggs were replaced with three hungry mouths waiting for mom or dad to return with an insect or three.

Two mouths closed up when they realized I wasn't bring food.

So cute to see these little birds with giant mouths.  Hopefully they will soon be flying off to the trees where they will be safer.

All of New Hampshire - except the very northern tip - is in an "abnormally dry" state  [Ref:  NOAA] and the ground is already is already quite parched.  We did get one short downpour on Thursday afternoon, but it blew over quickly a left a nice evening on the lake.  There's been a single loon hanging around in Marion Cove on Lake Wicwas quite a bit lately, and I assumed it was the rogue loon that has been spending time here the past several years.  In the late afternoon following that brief shower the loon was here again; since the evening had calmed down nicely I went out for a paddle to enjoy the sights.

Rain drops bead up on the lily pads.

Larger Blue Flag (Iris versicolor), native to New England, is blooming widely around the lakes.

When I returned the single loon was still in the cove, preening.  I stopped and watched for a few minutes, taking some pictures in the soft post-storm light, and only after I looked at the pictures did I realize this bird had a band - a white band with what appeared to be a black dot - it was the male from the Bryant Island nest!

I wouldn't have been sure that was really a band if it hadn't appeared in several pictures.

I guess he was out for a long evening fishing trip - the loon equivalent of getting out of the house for a few hours?

June 30, 2019: The Garden Help Loses its Skin

Summer arrived in full force this week with some nice hot humid weather and several waves of good old thunderstorms.  On one warm sunny morning I saw our friendly garter snake basking at our front step again, and I thought it looked particularly dark and shiny.  Then a few minutes later Linda called to show me what she had found among her flowers:

A ghost of a snake

It was a perfect snake skin that our garden attendant must have just shed.  I was able to extract it intact from being entangled among the flowers, and it was still flexible enough to straighten it out and measure it - it was 30-1/2 inches long, but in reading about snake sheds I learned that a shed is actually much longer than the snake itself.  [Ref:  Wikipedia]  A snake exits its old skin through the front after rubbing on a rough surface to loosen it up.  It then wriggles out starting at the mouth, which leaves the shed inside out as the snake literally crawls out of its own skin.  [Ref:  Wonderopolis]  This one left a perfect replica of itself.

I can't say whether it's inside out or not, but it sure looks like the edges of the mouth have been turned up.

The fact that our snake is growing and needs to shed proves it's earning its rent-free housing under our front step.

Our tenant shows off its shiny new skin.

The summer weather this week also provided opportunities for warm morning paddles, and there was a lot to see on the water, including wild iris blooming all along the shorelines.

Yellow Flag on the Roger Harris Natural Area.  (Iris pseudacorus)

Larger Blue Flag near Sheep Island.  (Iris versicolor)

I also had an encounter with a beaver that let me know it was not amused with my presence in its cove.

Mr. Beaver on a morning swim off the Marion Preserve just before giving me a stark warning with a tail slap.

The initial slap of the flat tail on the waters sends the loud alert.

The force of the slap pushes his hind feet  right up in the air

which results in a pretty nice splash.

And finally, I did come across our loon family which continues to thrive with both chicks seeming to grow daily - as well as being well behaved.

Harley and Davidson are growing quickly.  Photo by Debby Crowley.

A good sized minnow goes down the hatch.  Photo by Debby Crowley.

Perhaps you heard the news from Pleasant Lake up in New London.  The loon pair there had two chicks, but apparently abandoned one of them.  An alert went out to everyone on the lake that one chick was missing, and soon thereafter someone found the little guy all by itself.  When it was reintroduced to the family, the larger chick pecked at it mercilessly while the parents watched and did nothing.  So the biologists from the Loon Preservation Committee rescued it and brought it to a rehabilitator who determined is was very undernourished but other wise healthy, so it will be cared for and eventually returned to the wild.  This behavior is common among birds and other animals;  it even has a term:  siblicide.  The parents somehow decide it is best to commit all their attention to the larger and stronger chick.  But we appear to have no such problem at Lake Wicwas.

Harley and Davidson appear to be good friends.

Perhaps it helps that there was very little time separation between the hatching of Harley and Davidson so they are nearly the same size.

And lets not forget we have a second nest yet to produce.  As of this morning mom or dad is still on the nest tending to the eggs, but we should have new chicks by next weekend.

They sure did a nice job decorating the nursery.  Photo by Debby Crowley.

Thank you Debbie for sharing those great photos!

June 7, 2015

A couple of weeks ago I was playing hide-and-seek with a white-tailed deer;  this time there was a different creature playing peek-a-boo with me.  On a quiet morning in the woods I heard crackling of claws on dry bark, similar to the sound a red squirrel makes when running up and down a tree trying to be conspicuous to drive an intruder from its territory.  But this sounded too loud to be made by such a small critter based on the distance over which it seemed to be traveling.  Converting my radar from acquisition to search-and-track, I tried to geo-locate the source. (ok, so I worked in the world of radar and ECM for too long...)  The noise continued, climbing, slowly, higher up into the trees.  Eventually I was able to discern the target - a medium sized black ball clinging to the side of a white pine.   

A black silhouette in the morning

In the dim light of early morning, all I could make out was a silhouette, but the immediate thought was, uh-oh, a bear cub.  As it moved around the tree, I was looking around for mother and considering the best path to retreat, while still keeping an eye on the little guy.  At one point as it moved from one side of the pine to another, I saw a flash of long, busy tail....  Some data point in the threat-identification file didn't compute.

A clue - a long tail

Doesn't a bear have short, stubby tail?  A quick threat assessment determined this is not something to fear;  the most dangerous beast it might be is a fisher-cat, dangerous to a squirrel or a house cat, but not to me.  With the threat level returned to green it was time to gather some more intelligence to try to identify the target.  Watching closely I could see that once again a wild animal had the curiosity to want to figure out what I was as well.  It started playing peek-a-boo with me, looking out from one side of the tree, then climbing around the back of the tree and peeking from the other side.

Peek-a-boo

I had enough data now to make a positive ID;  the goggle-face was the definitive proof -  it was a raccoon.

Raccoons are some of the most intelligent and wily of our local forest inhabitants - you've probably heard stories of how they can use their dexterous hands to open doors and food containers and raid people's kitchens.  They also have an extremely varied diet, eating almost anything they can secure, including insects, worms, eggs, birds, fish, small mammals, and, especially in the late summer and fall, nuts, fruit, corn - almost anything they find or search out.  (Raccoons may have been the source of the large quantity of clam shells I found back on April 19.)  'Coons are strong swimmers and as seen here, excellent climbers. I went on my way so the nocturnal creature could find a spot to snooze away a warm summer day.

As if the red squirrel knew I was thinking about it when I heard claws on the tree, one decided to join into the game of hide-and-seek.

This one was most annoyed by my presence in its territory, sure I was going to raid its stash of nuts and seeds.

It doesn't need to worry about me, nor the raccoon, but this mother turtle certainly needs to (the raccoon that is, not me).

She was out laying her eggs in the ground a good 50 yards from the lake, hoping to be off the raccoon's lake-side trail, as a raccoon finding a bounty of turtle eggs will enjoy a real treat.

Although there are still a few spring wildflowers around, they are starting to pass the baton over to the summer flowers now.  The humming birds, butterflies, and bees don't mind - like a raccoon, they'll enjoy whatever nectar or pollen is available.

A bumblebee enjoying the beauty of Lupines

The natural beauty will be around for the 'coons, the squirrels - and us! - to enjoy for a long time now.

A Larger Blue Flag (Iris versicolor) adorns the shore of Lake Wicwas